FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots have released eight players today in anticipation of tomorrow's NFL-mandatory cut to the 53-man roster.

The Patriots released veteran LB Ricky Brown, OL Jonathan Compas and DL Darryl Richard; first-year players TE Carson Butler and WR Buddy Farnham and rookie free agents OL Mike Berry, RB Richard Medlin and OL Corey Woods.

VETERAN PLAYERS

Brown, 6-2, 235 pounds, was signed by the Patriots on August 20, 2011. He is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Originally signed by Oakland as a rookie free agent out of Boston College in 2006, Brown has played 55 career games with 13 starts as a reserve linebacker and special teams player.

Compas, 6-3, 300 pounds, signed with the Patriots on August 3, 2011. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Oakland Raiders from UC-Davis. He was waived by Oakland and acquired off waivers by Tampa Bay on September 1, 2009. Compas played in two games for Tampa Bay as a rookie. He was released by Tampa Bay on September 24, 2010 and spent the rest of the season out of football.

Richard, 6-4, 295 pounds, was originally drafted by the Patriots in the seventh round (234th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech. He spent his rookie season on the practice squad and last season on injured reserve with a foot injury.

FIRST YEAR PLAYERS

Butler, 6-4, 260 pounds, was signed by the Patriots on August. 2, 2010 and was waived on September 4, 2010. He was signed to the New England practice squad on September 21, 2010. Butler was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as a rookie free agent out of Michigan in 2009. He was waived by Green Bay in late July and signed by the Detroit Lions in early August. After being waived by Detroit prior to the start of the 2009 regular season, he spent parts of the year on the practice squads of San Francisco and Cincinnati. Butler signed with the New York Giants in January of 2010 but was waived in June.

Farnham, 6-0, 185 pounds, was originally signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent out of Brown on May 3, 2010 and was released on August 9 before being re-signed on August 15. He was released on the final cut-down on September 4. Farnham was signed to the New England practice squad on December 29, 2010.

ROOKIE FREE AGENTS

Berry, 6-3, 316 pounds, originally signed with the Patriots on July 27, 2011 as a rookie free agent from Auburn and then was released on August 3 before being re-signed on August 24.

Medlin, 5-11, 200 pounds, was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent from Fayetteville on August 3, 2011. He played in 10 games as a senior in 2010 and gained 772 yards with five touchdowns.
Woods, 6-5, 300 pounds, was signed by the Patriots as a rookie free agent on July 27, 2011 out of Akron. He was a four-year starter at Akron, who played at both left and right tackle during his college career. He played his first two seasons at right tackle before moving to the left side as a junior in 2009.